Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Newport rolls on thankfully

George Wein is a huge fan of Esparanza Spalding. The singer-bassist (pictured) has been a Newport regular for the past few years - and with her unexpected Grammy win - will be a featured artist at the 2011 edition of the Newport Jazz Festival. This year’s event runs August 5 to 7.

Wein’s production company didn’t waste time in getting out the lineup this year. Tickets go on sale this Saturday through TicketMaster and www.newportjazzfest.net.

Relatively young artists and veterans make up the bill, as Wein & Co. work in various ways to build an extended audience base that also spans generations and jazz genres - and reaches out to young fans and potential fans.

Wein told the Providence Journal’s Rick Massimo that Spalding will perform both Saturday and Sunday at Fort Adams State Park. Each day, she will draw from the talent on the bill to put together a different band. It’s a way to put a bit of improvisational programming/jamming into a performance format that doesn’t see much jamming anymore.